FRANCE: Vandals have painted swastikas on 15 Muslim graves in Strasbourg, north-east France, the latest in a spate of attacks on Jewish, Muslim and Christian property in the region.
President Jacques Chirac interrupted his holiday to condemn the incident, discovered at a military cemetery yesterday, but local Muslim leaders accused his government of inaction.
"I can no longer be content now with the condemnations and solidarity pledges of political rulers. I want results," said Abdellah Boussouf, rector of the Strasbourg mosque. "France's Muslims as a whole have the feeling they are considered second-class citizens."
Five million Muslims live in France, the largest number in any Western European country. It also has the biggest Jewish community.
Three hundred graves representing a variety of religions have been desecrated in the Strasbourg region in recent months, with the attacks often accompanied by neo-Nazi graffiti. No one has yet been charged in connection with any of the incidents.
Mr Chirac, holidaying in the French-ruled Indian Ocean island of Reunion, wrote an open letter to the head of the local Alsace Muslim council expressing his disgust at the attack and pledging his "absolute determination to fight this plague".
Last week unknown attackers desecrated 34 tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in nearby Saverne, painting red or blue swastikas on most of them. Swastikas in black paint were found on 14 graves in a Christian cemetery in the neighbouring town of Niederhaslach in June, the second time it was attacked in a month.
France has seen a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in recent years, which some blame on tensions between Muslims and Jews stoked by the Middle East conflict.
The discovery of swastikas and graffiti celebrating Adolf Hitler has led police to suspect neo-Nazi groups were behind the cemetery attacks. The far-right has a strong local following in Alsace, where it scored up to 25 per cent of the vote in March local council elections.